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Biomedical subjects

M Diamond

Publications and source records attributed to M Diamond.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Isolation and characterization of a Mr = 110,000 glycoprotein localized to the hepatocyte bile canaliculus.

A Mr = 110,000 glycoprotein, GP 110, was partially purified using wheat germ agglutinin-Sepharose affinity chromatography from a bile canalicular-enriched membrane fraction denoted N2u of rat liver. This fraction was subjected to preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the Mr = 110,000 polypeptide was excised and used as an immunogen in rabbits. The antisera were found to specifically recognize a Mr = 110,000 polypeptide, named GP 110, in the N2u membrane fraction. In isolated hepatocytes, GP 110 was readily accessible to cell surface iodination catalyzed by lactoperoxidase at 4 degrees C and was judged by immunoprecipitation studies to contain about 2% of total radioactivity incorporated into externally oriented proteins of the cell. Immunoprecipitated GP 110 was shown by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to migrate with an approximate pI of 4.9. Indirect immunofluorescence on frozen liver sections demonstrated that GP 110 was primarily localized in the bile canaliculus. In corroborative studies employing subcellular fractionation, it was found that GP 110 was enriched nearly 19-fold in P2, a plasma membrane fraction primarily derived from the sinusoidal domain, and 44-fold in N2u. In contrast, only low levels of GP 110 were present in endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial, cytosolic, and nuclear-enriched fractions of liver. The physiological function of GP 110 is as yet unknown; antisera to it did not immunoprecipitate other known bile canalicular proteins of similar molecular weights. GP 110 was found to be extensively glycosylated relative to other known membrane proteins; approximately 33% of the apparent molecular weight appear to be carbohydrate. In agreement, limited removal of N-linked carbohydrate chains indicated that there are approximately eight chains/GP 110 polypeptide. Neuraminidase treatment of GP 110 resulted in a desialylated Mr = 85,000 polypeptide suggesting that the majority of carbohydrate chains on GP 110 are of the complex type.

Animals↗

Biosynthesis and turnover of a Mr = 110,000 glycoprotein localized to the hepatocyte bile canaliculus.

Antiserum was raised in rabbits against a bile canalicular glycoprotein of Mr = 110,000 purified to homogeneity from of rat liver. The antisera specifically immunoprecipitated a Mr = 110,000 polypeptide from hepatocytes metabolically labeled with [35S]methionine. When hepatocytes in primary culture were incubated with tunicamycin before labeling with [35S]methionine in the presence of tunicamycin, the major polypeptide immunoprecipitated by the specific antiserum from Triton X-100 extracts of cells had a molecular weight of 59,000. Enzymatic removal of N-linked carbohydrates from the Mr = 110,000 glycoprotein by N-glycanase digestion also yielded a polypeptide with minimum Mr = 59,000. In pulse-chase experiments using [35S]methionine, the Mr = 110,000 protein detected by the specific antisera first appears as Mr = 85,000 and 75,000 intermediate species which are endoglycosidase H sensitive. The Mr = 85,000 intermediate form is lost first with time followed by the Mr = 75,000 form giving rise to the Mr = 110,000 form that is endoglycosidase H resistant. Neuraminidase digestion of the Mr = 110,000 form generated an Mr 85,000 form but with a different carbohydrate structure than the intermediate Mr 85,000 form detected in the pulse-chase experiments. The time required to accomplish the processing of the Mr = 85,000 and 75,000 forms is relatively slow. Finally, the terminal sugars are added and the mature Mr = 110,000 glycoprotein is rapidly transported to the cell surface. A minimum time of 90 min is required for the Mr = 110,000 bile canalicular glycoprotein to be synthesized, processed, and reach the cell surface which is long relative to the time required (10 min) for another domain-specific protein, the receptor for asialoglycoproteins, to reach the sinusoidal surface. The Mr = 110,000 bile canalicular glycoprotein turns over in the bile canalicular domain with a half-life of 43 h while the asialoglycoprotein receptor turns over in the sinusoidal domain with a half-life of 23 h.

Animals↗

DNA length polymorphism located 5' to the human myelin basic protein gene.

A region of DNA 5' to the human myelin basic protein (MBP) gene, located on the long arm of chromosome 18, is a site of restriction-fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) showing 37% heterozygosity in 40 subjects studied. Southern transfer analysis using a 0.9-kb genomic fragment encompassing the first exon of the human MBP gene reveals this polymorphism with at least nine restriction enzymes, indicating that insertion, deletion, or both is the basis for the DNA length variation. Double restriction-enzyme digest analysis suggests that this polymorphism is within the region 0.5-2.0 kb upstream of the coding region of the first exon of the human MBP gene. Eleven different allelic RFLPs were identified, differing in size by as many as 450 bp. The distribution of insertion/deletion-size variants from this region is bimodal, with most restriction fragments varying in size over a 0.1-kb range. Pedigree analysis of polymorphism at this site in one three-generation family shows Mendelian assortment of parental haplotypes. The form and frequency of polymorphism generated by this site is similar to that reported for human DNA regions comprised of homologous short tandem repeats.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Independently activated dbl oncogenes exhibit similar yet distinct structural alterations.

The dbl oncogene was initially isolated following transfection of NIH3T3 cells with DNA of a human diffuse B cell lymphoma. Its transcribed sequences were shown to be distributed over a 30-kb span within a molecularly cloned 45-kb segment of human DNA which contained the transforming gene. By restriction mapping, its transcribed region corresponded to that of its normal allele, except at the 5' end where a rearrangement involved transcribed dbl oncogene sequences from another locus. An independent isolate of a dbl-related transforming gene was obtained following transfection of NIH3T3 cells with DNA of a human nodular poorly differentiated lymphoma (NPDL). Physical mapping indicated that this transforming gene, designated NPDL-dbl, shared considerable homology with the dbl oncogene, but differed at both 5' and 3' termini. Its point of divergence from the normal allele at the 5' end was at least 10 kb upstream from that of the dbl oncogene. The oncogenes each expressed truncated transcripts compared to the 5.3-kb normal transcript. The dbl and NPDL-dbl oncogene translational products of 66 and 76 kDa, respectively, were consistent with their corresponding major 2.8- and 3.5-kb transcripts. It was not possible to detect evidence of the 5' structural rearrangements associated with these oncogenes in either of the original tumors. Thus, if these rearrangements were critical to their activation, they occurred in the process of gene transfer or in vivo in only a minority of tumor cells.

Animals↗

Behavioral and physiological control of yolk synthesis and deposition in the female red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis).

Ovarian recrudescence in female garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, follows spring emergence from hibernation and mating. In the laboratory, courtship and mating stimuli significantly increased the proportion of female garter snakes becoming pregnant, although some noncourted nonmated controls also became pregnant. Females given artificial mating stimuli under anesthetic, without courtship stimuli, were no more likely than either noncourted, nonmated or anesthetized controls to become pregnant. Hormonal changes and yolk synthesis rapidly followed mating in both laboratory and field females; serum estradiol increased more than 10-fold in 2 days and serum calcium, a measure of yolk precursor lipoprotein (vitellogenin) concentration, increased more than two times in 10 days. Administration of exogenous estradiol stimulated yolk synthesis, but did not result in yolk deposition into ovarian follicles. However, administration of ovine follicle-stimulating hormone induced both hepatic yolk synthesis and yolk deposition. Our results are consistent with the hypotheses that courtship and copulation are facilitatory to ovarian recrudescence but neither alone nor in combination is necessary nor sufficient, and in this species yolk synthesis and yolk deposition are separately regulated.

Animals↗

Fluprazine hydrochloride decreases copulation in male rats.

The copulatory performance of 18 sexually experienced male rats was tested 30 min after IP injection of the phenylpiperazine, Fluprazine Hydrochloride (4 and 8 mg/kg), or saline solution. Three 20-min tests with an estrous female were conducted at weekly intervals. Each drug dose produced a significant depressive effect on copulatory behavior (latency to and frequency of intromissions and ejaculations) without affecting social investigation. The increased latencies to mounting and intromission observed at both doses suggest that the primary action of the Fluprazine Hydrochloride is to interfere with the transition from social to copulatory patterns. Although the drug's mode of action is currently unknown, the present findings suggest that it operates on some common mediator of sexual and aggressive behavior.

Animals↗

Angina and sudden death resulting from papillary fibroelastoma of the aortic valve.

A 75-year-old woman presented with recurrent severe chest pain radiating to her back. The initial ECG was normal, and clinically an aortic dissection was suspected. The patient became hypotensive during a chest computed tomography scan with infusion, had subsequent repeated cardiac arrests, and died. Autopsy revealed a 1.5-cm polypoid lesion, a papillary fibroelastoma, on the aortic valve, which effectively occluded the ostium of the left coronary artery in a ball-valve effect. In addition, an embolic fragment of the tumor was found in the left anterior descending artery. This is the sixth reported case of angina and/or sudden death resulting from this lesion. Of the 75 cases reported in the literature, most are incidental necropsy findings, although neurologic emboli and outflow tract obstruction have been described.

Aged↗

Hormonal independence of courtship behavior in the male garter snake.

Garter snakes exhibit a dissociated reproductive tactic in which gonadal activity is minimal at the time of mating, increasing only after the breeding season has ended. Experiments are presented demonstrating that neither short-term nor longterm castration affects courtship behavior in adult male red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). So long as males have passed through a low-temperature dormancy period (hibernation), castration either shortly after emergence in the spring, or before entering winter dormancy in the fall, does not prevent the display of intense courtship behavior on emergence. Similarly, males castrated during mating activity the previous spring prior to the annual testicular growth phase actively courted females on emergence from hibernation. Males adrenalectomized and castrated during low-temperature dormancy also courted females on emergence. Hypophysectomy during or before low-temperature dormancy did not prevent males from displaying high-intensity courtship behavior on emergence from hibernation. Treatment with sex steroid hormones, as well as hypothalamic and pituitary hormones, and a variety of neural and metabolic affectors also fails to elicit courtship behavior in noncourting males during the summer. It was concluded that causal mechanisms controlling courtship behavior in the red-sided garter snake are fundamentally different, at least at the physiological level, from those mechanisms described for many laboratory and domesticated species.

Adrenal Glands↗

DNA-DNA hybridization assay for detection of Salmonella spp. in foods.

We have developed a DNA-DNA hybridization test for the presence of Salmonella spp. in foods. This test requires an initial pre-enrichment of food samples in nutrient broth but does not require selective enrichment. Samples of food cultures are collected on membrane filters and assayed by molecular hybridization to labeled probes. The probes consist of DNA sequences which are unique to the genus Salmonella and are widely distributed in the genus. A diverse panel of foods was assayed successfully by this methodology.

Bacteriological Techniques↗